Located west of the Forbidden City, with district views to the famous Beijing landmark from the upper floors, the highly visible corner site presented both opportunities and challenges.

In response to the constraints of the existing building footprint, AJ+C created a contemporary design which integrated iconic elements of Chinese art and culture. The building is curved and clad with a modern Chinese glass screen, inspired by clouds and acts as an “open sky corner” in deference to the heritage building located diagonally across the site.

Loft style guestrooms resolve the floor-to-ceiling height constraints imposed by the existing building regulations and add a luxurious touch to the hotel.

AJ+C initiated the design and subsequently formed a joint venture with Arup and Woods Bagot to provide full service delivery for the project and all three parties contributed to the final scheme and presentation, along with input from other consultants.

The scheme, entitled the “Desert Canopy”, gained inspiration from the Qatar landscape, in particular, the table mountains of Dukhan Anticline and the shifting sand dunes. AJ+C also looked to the rich use of geometry in the buildings and decorative arts of the Islamic world.

The brief for the staff housing of the Sidra Medical Research Centre, called for a self-contained neighbourhood in close proximity to the Centre, consisting of over 2000 apartments and villas for doctors, nurses and administrative staff, with separate compounds for the three tiers of staff.

Central to each compound is the clubhouse or community hall with pool and outdoor entertainment area, all easily accessible from each dwelling to encourage socializing. In addition, there is a neighbourhood centre which comprises the general store, coffee shop/restaurant, mosque, day care centre, indoor sports centre and maintenance depot.

Another significant public space is the pedestrian colonnade that winds its way through the development along the main street, providing relief from the harsh Qatar climate. The main street meanders its way through the site ‘opening up’ at changes in direction and intersections in the course of which it unites the compounds.

The large landscaped roofs of the community buildings provide insulation and generous shade canopies for the spaces below, which are advantageous to the severe Qatar climate. These rooftops also provide garden views for the surrounding apartment buildings. Each swimming pool garden is an oasis set below street level to utilise the cooler temperatures and provide privacy for swimmers. The many parks are conceived as “sunken landscaped rooms”, again, partially set into the ground to provide cooler conditions.

Due to the current economic climate, the Qatar Foundation has decided not to proceed with any of the tenders from the international design competition.

He has worked extensively on the firm’s residential projects, including Vinosa, a $23 million 55 apartment project at the former Prince Henry Hospital site in Little Bay for Stockland and Pavillions on the Park in St Leonards, a $30 million 185 apartment block for Australand. David’s expertise also includes adapting heritage sites to new uses, having worked on Building6 and 10 at Cockatoo Island, which was transformed from a heritage office and workshop into a contemporary office, hospitality and studio space for the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust.

He is leading the social housing projects won by the firm this year, which comprises 191 dwellings across 10 sites in southwest Sydney and is also working on Botanica, a conversion of the heritage-listed Lidcombe Hospital into nine apartments, which commences construction in 2010.

John has been with AJ+C for 25 years; his professionalism, humour and breadth of knowledge contributed greatly to our architecture and the life of our office.

The vibrant energy that he applied to the variety of highly detailed and complex projects was admired by his peers. He was an unconventional powerhouse whose laughter and roguish smile will be greatly missed.

Our thoughts and condolences go to Nina his wife and Larissa his daughter at this painful time.

The A$1.3 million Berry Sports Hall, designed by Allen Jack+Cottier (AJ+C), beat the world renowned Wimbledon Centre Court Redevelopment and the Atlantic Health Jets Training Facility to take the sports category award.

Set on 60 hectares of rolling countryside in Berry, the site was originally an experimental dairy farm and has made way for a fun and innovative multipurpose hall for basketball, netball, rock climbing, dance and theatre.

Reminiscent of a modern farm shed, the building comprises two long sides of precast concrete panels, each pierced by 500 shards of glass in amoeba-like windows, allowing natural light to flood the halls in the day and interior lights to shine through at night, illuminating the building and making it “disappear” into the night sky.

The structure reflects this year’s festival theme “Less does more”, and shows how innovative and cost effective design can transform the architectural landscape, marrying the realities of environmental and economic necessity.

The building also features environmentally sustainable design (ESD), with a dozen wind turbines combining with panels of louvers to create a natural ventilation system which cools the structure in summer and creates an insulation blanket in winter. Roof water is tracked back from the 3.5 metre cantilevered composite roof via a steel beam to provide water for irrigation tanks.

The Festival was attended by over 2,000 architects and designers and attracted 800 shortlisted entrants from 63 countries around the world.

Berry Sports and Recreation Hall has also collected the Australian Institute of Architects (NSW) Public Architecture Award and the Blacket Award for Regional Architecture in 2008.